WINSTON-SALEM –Most
of the films that will screen at RiverRun International Film Festival
(beginning Friday and running through April 13) aren’t really films. They
are movies produced and distributed digitally. Most viewers won’t know the
difference. But for David Spencer and his peers, the difference is clear,
and it’s terrifying.

“I’ve
gone into a field that’s going the way of the dinosaur,” says Spencer, the
senior curator for the Moving Image Archives in the School of Filmmaking at
the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). UNCSA houses
one of the 10 largest non-commercial film archives in the country.

Spencer is curating RiverRun’s “Spotlight” focus on restoration and
preservation of historical film media. He will moderate a panel
discussion with his peers from the largest film archive organizations in the
United States and Great Britain. Representatives from the Library of
Congress, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, UCLA Film &
Television Archive, the George Eastman House, the British Film Institute,
and Anthology Film Archives will explore the potential advantages and
pitfalls of the digital revolution. The discussion is at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 5,in Main Theatre of UNCSA’s ACE Exhibition Complex, 1533 S. Main
Street in Winston-Salem. It is free and open to the public.

UNCSA’s Moving Image Archives

“This is a very prestigious panel from some of the
largest film archives in the world,” said UNCSA Dean of
Filmmaking Susan Ruskin. “I am thrilled to host these
experts on our campus, and I am proud that our senior
curator will moderate the panel discussion.”

The UNCSA Moving Image Archives includes a collection of
16,500 original feature film prints on 70mm, 35mm and
16mm, and 9,300 videocassette, laserdisc and DVD titles.
The School of Filmmaking pulls from its collection for
weekly screenings that are a required part of the
curriculum for cinema studies.

“Students are thrilled when they get to see something on
35mm film,” Spencer said. “It’s just a different
experience. The brain processes visual images
differently. You can get into a different state of
engagement with the film.” And unlike digital movies
which can be viewed alone on a smart phone or laptop,
35mm format movies require a projector, which requires a
movie theatre. “So it’s a communal experience, and it
can be much more engaging,” he added.

Local audiences will have several chances to engage with
rare 35mm films. As part of RiverRun’s spotlight on
restoration and preservation, Spencer has curated a
collection of films from organizations represented on
the panel.

UNCSA has contributed a legendary “lost film” that
Spencer discovered in a collection the Film School
acquired from the National Film Service. SANTA FE SATAN
(aka CATCH MY SOUL), produced in 1974, stars
singer/songwriter Richie Haven in a rock-opera version
of Shakespeare’s Othello. It will screen at 1
p.m. on Saturday, April 12, in UNCSA’s Gold Theatre.

“We are excited to offer our audiences these very rare
screening opportunities to enjoy the richness of 35mm
film and to learn more of the care and keeping of our
cinematic heritage,” said RiverRun Executive Director
Andrew Rodgers.

Spencer has worked at UNCSA since 1998, having
previously studied in the School of Filmmaking. He has a
degree in broadcasting and film from UNC-Greensboro and
a Film Preservation Certification from the L. Jeffrey
Selznick School of Film Preservation at the George
Eastman House Museum of Photography and Film. In
addition to running the Moving Image Archives, he
teaches cinema studies courses at UNCSA.

Historically, moving images have been presented in a
variety of formats, Spencer explained, including film
and magnetic video. But since the 1990s, technology has
changed the way motion pictures are produced and
exhibited. Physical film projection has given way to
digital production and distribution, a development that
has generated much discussion among filmmakers and
cinema buffs – not to mention archivists like Spencer.

Digital production and exhibition is the latest
development in the evolution of film, he said. “First it
was the incorporation of sound, then color, then the
transition to video,” he explained. And while film stock
is a structurally permanent medium for movies, the
projection equipment must be available. “There are a
handful of art houses that are committed to showing 35mm
films,” he said. UNCSA has expanded its program of
loaning archival films to such houses.

While motion picture film stock might “go the way of the
dinosaur,” archivists like Spencer and his peers on the
discussion panel are not in danger of extinction. There
is plenty of work to be done converting resources to
digital formats, as well as restoring and preserving the
artistry and historical significance of cinematic works
on film.

Brought to Winston-Salem by UNCSA in 1998, RiverRun
International Film Festival is a non-profit cultural
organization dedicated to the role of cinema as a
conduit of powerful ideas and diverse viewpoints. Held
annually in the spring, RiverRun screens a wide variety
of feature-length and short films for all genres, and is
comparable in size and scope to well-regarded film
festivals in Nashville, Atlanta and Boston. UNCSA is one
of its sponsors.

As America’s first state-supported arts school, the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts is a
unique stand-alone public university of arts
conservatories. With a high school component, UNCSA is a
degree-granting institution that trains young people of
talent in music, dance, drama, filmmaking, and design
and production. Established by the N.C. General Assembly
in 1963, the School of the Arts opened in Winston-Salem
(“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became
part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972.
For more information, visit
www.uncsa.edu.